Dunmore High School supporters regularly chant “Beat ‘em Bucks” as a rallying cry against any and all opponents. Once known as Bucktown because of the abundant deer population, the community comprises a tight-knit tribe that supports and defends its own. A high school baton twirler known as Miss Buck has dressed for generations as a sequined antlered Buck to perform for the football crowd and instill pride in her community and school.

So what action will Dunmore Mayor Max Conway take to decrease the odds of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seizing another vulnerable child and her father as ICE did in Dunmore last week? How much does Conway really care about the Honduran father and his 11-year-old daughter deported to uncertainty after living productive lives in Dunmore for years? How much empathy does Conway truly feel for this father and child, a sixth grader who learned from dear friends and neighbors what it means to live in America and love her hometown?

To their credit many Dunmore residents exhibit great empathy, compassion and even anger at the ICE cold-blooded move to disrupt the lives of this targeted family. Good citizens flooded Facebook with messages of mercy for their neighbors under siege. Good people offered to help any way they could but didn’t know how.

That’s where elected public officials come in. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. But conscientious elected officials can and must apply pressure on everyone involved in immigration enforcement. That includes Gov. Josh Shapiro, state and national Republican and Democratic Party leadership, public school officials, borough council members, local and state police and others. Demanding fair immigration policies, especially for children, requires aggressive political advocates to promote liberty and justice for all.

Four Democratic Northeastern Pennsylvania public servants including Conway quickly expressed pious public dismay in well-prepared statements about the Dunmore ICE apprehension. State Sen. Marty Flynn, a father who lives in Dunmore, state Rep. Kyle Mullins, a father who represents Dunmore, and state Rep. Kyle Donahue, another father, quickly posted statements expressing their concerns for compassion and common sense. But other than publicly displaying supposedly heartfelt emotions, what will these flatulent bureaucrats actually do to help prevent subsequent ICE incursions into our communities?  

Dunmore Mayor Max Conway initially did not respond to my questions in two emails asking about what happened in the town he represents. On Monday I sent Conway a follow-up email.

I wrote:

“I’m writing another of a series of Dunmore-based columns about the recent ICE arrest and the community consequences of this law enforcement action.

Have you tried to find out where the father and child are now living? Have you heard from the father or anyone representing his interests? Are you taking action to make sure this does not happen to other Dunmore children and their parents?

Does Dunmore Police Department have a formal written agreement with ICE?”

A Dunmore borough employee told me Conway doesn’t have an office at the borough building. The employee did not have a phone number for him. Conway has another job but maintains an office at the police station, according to the employee who didn’t know if Conway uses that office but said I could leave a message there.

No one answered the police department phone when I pressed “0” for the “receptionist” and the directory menu did not include an extension for Conway. Conway did not answer the phone at his real estate office. His voice mailbox was full. On Monday, though, he did respond to my third email.

Conway wrote, “I appreciate you reaching out. I’ve already made my public statement on this matter and don’t have anything further to add at this time. Thank you.”

He appreciates me reaching out.

He’s already made his public statement.

He doesn’t have anything further to add at this time.

If I ever talk with our lost immigrant child wherever she might be, I’ll make sure not to share Conway’s chilly sentiments. His cold-hearted demeanor might break more of this little girl’s already broken heart.

The day before issuing his Oct. 30 public statement, Conway wrote in a Facebook post, “I’m disgusted by what I’m hearing about ICE in Dunmore this morning. I’m on the phone trying to get real answers right now. This is not something we’ll accept here in Dunmore.”

Good citizens are trying to get real answers, too. The difference between us and Conway is we’re really trying. Conway, a 33-year-old father of two with political aspirations who just this week got re-elected to another term in office, has ineptly accepted the icy grip of iron fist government overreach into his warm little town. Self-absorbed and aloof, his ice-capped conscience has frozen over.

Holding public servants accountable is crucial for any community that hopes to progress. Leadership, even for a small town mayor, is urgent and vital.

“Once a Buck always a Buck” is also a common Dunmore battle cry.

In Conway’s case his frigid detachment inexcusably highlights his penchant to pass the buck.